Authors Note: Rotten Writer here again, gang.

So, in the previous chapter there was some chaos and mayhem and some people seem to feel I'm still beating a dead horse on the drama and chaos. Personally I'd say that I have to disagree, but to each their own. Honestly, there's calculated reasons for many of the events in the previous chapter. Some of these will be made clear in this chapter, others won't make sense for a while now.

With moving into second year the AU aspects of the story are going to start developing further and I've got to set up some changes and strange occurrences that will eventually affect future portions of the story as we move further and further away from aspects of the established canon. For example, without giving too much away Second Year is going to have a number of changes to it, though the bare bones of the story will largely play out in a very similar fashion. But it's going to be peppered with minor events that will affect larger and more sweeping changes for later portions of the story.

So, while I can admit, that there did appear to be some of the same old tired behavior from Harry in the previous chapter there are several factors that need to be considered into the why and how. First, Harry isn't just going to miraculously 'get better', not with the past I've established for him at this point. He's had a REALLY shitty life and that's going to affect him for the rest of his life. He's never going to be totally "cured" and honestly, shouldn't be, given what he's experienced. He'll learn ways to cope, he'll learn to rely on people to help him, especially his ladies, but it's not going to happen overnight or even in the first couple of years. He's still going to have moments of stupid and if this offends people or is annoying I apologize and thank you for sticking with us this long but it is entirely your choice if you wish to continue on this adventure with the rest of us or not.

All that being said, we're going to have an interesting second year and I'm really looking forward to starting some of those changes that are going to affect the rest of the story.

Quick side note, I've given up on trying to stick to metric units of measurement. I'm American and steeped in the stupid Imperial system that only us yanks use. I'm eventually going to go back and edit past chapters for this but from now on I'm sticking to feet and inches when I need to use measurements and hope this doesn't throw anyone off too much. I just find myself flip flopping too much and it'll be easier for me to stick to what I know.

Disclaimer: I own not any aspect of the Harry Potter franchise or it's characters. All I own is the original portions of this plot and nothing else.

Here we go with chapter 17 of Soul Scars!

Soul Scars Part Two

Darkness Within

By,

Rtnwriter

There was a quiet hissing sound that filled the office, a low, sibilant noise just below the edge of normal hearing. If the office hadn't been so silent it would have been drowned out by any other ambient sound in the room.

Croaker sat behind his desk, staring at the hourglass that sat centered on the hard surface in front of him. Easily four feet tall with a top and base carved of gleaming ebony, four poles supported the structure and the large glass globes held between. The sand, a light green color drifted slowly from the top globe into the bottom with the inexorable forward march of time that all fall victim too.

"You know," Croaker said, suddenly, startling his guest by speaking after many long minutes of utter silence save for the hissing of the sand in the hourglass. "Time is one of those things that I doubt magic will ever truly be able to understand. It's a concept that only holds meaning because we've defined it, given it meaning by measuring it and breaking it up into chunks of seconds, minutes, hours, days, and so on. We've found ways to fudge with time, yes, the turners being one tool, but truly, of all the mysteries of our universe I feel that time is the one we will never truly be able to comprehend."

"Sir?" Sable asked, confused by their superiors strange statement.

Croaker waved one glove covered hand and leaned back in his desk as the massive hourglass floated silently through the air and settled itself into one corner of the office. "Never mind," he said. "Just the ramblings of an old mind. You were saying about the subjects?" he added, urging his subordinated to move on with his report.

"Yes, Director. The teams have been observing the subjects for the last month and have had nothing unusual to report. On the first day back, if you'll remember, subject White King did have a meeting with Gringotts. He received something that we haven't been able to identify but it seemed to upset him for a time but then he appeared to put it from his mind."

Croaker nodded, silently urging Sable to continue with the report.

"Yesterday evening at approximately 2030 hours, subject White King went AWOL."

"AWOL?"

"A muggle term it means Away Without Leave. Without permission, and in fact acting surreptitiously he snuck away from the Boeyard to destinations unknown. We've been looking for him since."

"Has anyone else noticed?"

"About an hour ago at 0200, subject Red Queen realized that White King was not in bed and began a search of the Manor-" Sable broke off as a tiny mote of light filtered into the office through the wall and absorbed into Sable's head. "White King has been located, Number 4 Privet Drive in Surrey."

Croaker arched a single brow beneath his hood. "Why would he go there of all places?" he wondered aloud.

"No idea, Director. Secondary team reports that White King is in distress, however. The house occupants have been… hostile."

"Is he in eminent mortal danger?"

"Not as far as things appear at present. He's uninjured, but doesn't appear to be too severely."

"Leave things as they are for now. I want to see how they play out but the team knows the plan. If it appears that White King is in mortal peril they're to stop in."

"Understood, Director."

"Dismissed."

Sable nodded and stood, leaving the office without another word. A moment later the massive hourglass had returned to its place on the desk and Croaker leaned back in his seat, watching as the sand slowly trickled down through the glass.

#####

Amelia Bones worried at her lower lip, chewing on it unconsciously as she studied the empty room. The guest room she'd given to Harry didn't look like the room belonged to a preteen boy. It still looked like a guest room. It was undecorated, lacking any kind of personal touch. If it wasn't for the few items that belonged to Harry that were scattered around, like his trunk at the foot of the bed and a few books on the coffee table near the fire place, she would almost thing it was still an empty room, waiting for someone to stay overnight at the Boneyard.

Dammit, she thought. I should have been paying closer attention. Where the hell is he?

Two in the morning. It was two o'clock in the bloody morning before she noticed that Harry wasn't in his room. She'd wracked her brain, looking for any sign that he'd left. Something she'd missed. She remembered the wards telling her that he'd left his room the night before at around eight thirty. She hadn't given it much thought at the time. Kids come and go from their rooms at all times, and it wasn't like it was exceptionally late at night.

For the life of her, though, she couldn't remember him going hack into the room. That was what was annoying her. Had she really been so focused on her work that she hadn't even realized it? Well, res, obviously she had been. But if he had, the ward would have caught her attention. She tried to tell herself that she hadn't been remiss in her duties as his guardian to not notice his movements last night, but with the Boy-Who-Lived missing… she couldn't help but feel a sharp pang of guilt, mixed with not a little bit of anger and frustration.

"Why can't this kid get it through his head to ask for help?" she muttered. "No idea what the hell he's doing, but if he needed help with something he needs to ask, dammit."

She sighed and backed out of the room, closing the door behind her and making her way downstairs to the kitchen where the girls were all sitting around the table, pale, and with hands clasped around cups of warm tea. They looked like hell, and she couldn't tell if it was just because Harry was missing or if there was something else involved.

Still dressed in their sleep wear, light pajamas and long sleeved tops, they sat listlessly, eyes glassy and a touch unfocused.

"Anything?" she asked as she sank into a seat and lifted the cup of tea that appeared in front of her with a quiet pop.

Daphne shook her head.

"Nothing concrete, Amelia," Hermione mumbled.

"He feels…" Susan trailed off for a second before giving out a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's so irritating," she burst out. "He's suppressing the link again. It's… he's still there, we can still feel his presence in our minds but trying to identify individual feelings or anything else?" She shook her head. "There's not enough there for us to get ahold of."

"I've already sent word to the office," Amelia told them. "I'm hoping they'll be able to figure out where he is but he could be anywhere. I'm not even sure how far he could or might have gotten. I mean, he can't apparate, can't make a port key, I'm honestly amazed he actually chose to use the Floo, but unfortunately there's nothing to tell us where he actually went."

"Where it was, he really wanted to get there if it actually made him get over his issues with Floo travel," Hermione observed. "Anyone have any ideas what that might be? This wouldn't be something hat he just thought up on a whim. He turned off the chime on the Floo that lets the house know when someone uses it. He planned a stealthy exit and has probably been ding so for days if not weeks."

"What about that letter he took from his vault?" Daphne asked, sitting up sharply in her seat as the thought occurred to her. "Does anyone know what that was about?"

They all shook their heads and let out a collective sigh of frustration. Amelia in particular was feeling trapped. As an Auror she was a person of action, sitting around with no leads to follow up on and nothing to actually do was driving her right up the wall.

"I haven't even seen that letter since the day he got it," Susan muttered.

Amelia jumped a moment later when the girls each started and Susan and Hermione whimpered slightly before they lifted their shirts, almost in unison, to see a small cut appear, low above their right hip, sealing over into a new scar and Amelia cursed, blistering the air around her as the girls wiped away the blood.

"All right," Amelia muttered under her breath. "That is it. Binky!"

"Mistress Bonsey calls for Binky?" the little elf squeaked a moment later after he popped into the room.

"Yes, Binky," Amelia said, trying to keep her voice level. "Harry has taken it upon himself to leave the house sometime last night and we're worried about him. He had a letter that was taken from his family vaults that he received at the start of the month. Would you happen to know where that letter is?"

Binky looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded rapidly, his large ears flapping around his head for a moment. "Yes, Mistress Bonsey. Binky found a letter last night on the mister Harry Potter's bed. Binky put it away with his bookses."

"Could you please bring me that letter?"

Binky nodded and popped away and Amelia settled back in her seat, glaring at the cup of now cold tea in front of her.

"Should we really do that?"

Amelia glanced up at Hermione's question. The girl looked torn. Wringing her hands on the table in front of her and shifting her weight in her seat, her face a study of indecision.

"I mean… is it right to invade his privacy like this?"

Amelia sighed and shook her head. "No, Hermione. No it isn't right, and normally I would never even think of doing such a thing. But he hasn't given us much choice. He's obviously getting hurt, wherever he is, and we don't have the slightest hint where that might be. We need something, anything, some kind of lead to find him and if he get's upset with me for invading his privacy I'll deal with that fallout later. Right now I'm far more worried for his safety than I am over a little bit of privacy under these current circumstances."

Hermione nodded, somewhat hesitantly at that, but her expression firmed even as she sat up a bit straighter in her seat, her eyes hardening as her lightning quick mind considered and filed away that information. On either side of her she noticed Daphne and Susan reacting similarly, but she wasn't certain if their reaction was entirely due to the words Amelia had said, or if it was responding to her own emotions that she knew was bleeding over to the other two girls through their link.

She frowned momentarily at that random thought. The link that connected her to the other girls had been on her mind more frequently of late. She felt that it was very similar, if not identical to the link she shared with Harry, but she wasn't sure she wanted to consider the possible implications of that.

Luckily for her, before she could traverse that particular rabbit hole, Binky popped back into the room, the yellowed envelope they'd all seen before clutched carefully in his long fingered hands with the letter turned endwise and stuffed into the envelope so that it stuck out of the open flap.

Amelia took the letter, thanking Binky for it, and when the little elf popped away she pulled out the letter and spread it out carefully on the table in front of her before she picked it up and started to read aloud.

My Darling Boy-" she said.

I hope you never get this letter, I hope I've written this for no reason and that it has long since been burned. If you are reading it, then it means that we've failed. It means that your father and I are dead and someone, someone we thought to be a good and true friend, betrayed us.

If everything goes according to plan, even if we do not survive, I am positive that you will. And Harry, I am so, so, sorry, but if things happen as I think they will, a monumental burden will fall on your shoulders. It is a burden your father and I would gladly take from you and shoulder ourselves, but life, and fate, are cruel and from everything we've been able to glean that possibility may not exist, as much as we wish otherwise.

Amelia paused for a moment and cleared her throat as images of the bright, forceful woman Lily Potter had been floated through her mind. She hadn't known the Potters well, but she had known them, and counted them as friends.

I don't want to be too detailed in this letter. We have written other letters to you, baby boy. Other letters that are more heartfelt than this one. Letters that tell you all the things we wish we could say to you. Suffice it to say that right now, if you are reading this, then there is more information that you should have, that you need.

I left a chest, a small wooden chest with my sister. She's married now to some great oaf of a man and with any luck you have never met them at this point, our wills were clear on that that you should never be raised by them. Now, though, you need to find her. Petunia Dursley is her name. She's your Aunt, and I left the chest with her with several strong compulsion charms on it. Charms that would make her keep it in her possession no matter what happens in her life. She should still have the chest and if you can find her if you ask for it, she'll tell you where it is.

Find that chest, Harry. There is information within it that you absolutely must have, as well as several things we would have wanted to share with you in person, if at all possible. Your father had a lot of lessons he wanted to impart. Things he felt was a fathers duty to teach his son. I have left my own lessons for you, and hopefully, something to let you know that you are loved.

We do love you, Harry. More than we could ever possibly express in words. There is no language that exists that can properly express the love a parent holds for their child. You were a gift, and a blessing to us, and possible to the rest of the world. Again, I hope this is a silly fear, a pointless endeavor… but if it isn't, and we are gone… live, Harry. Beyond anything else we could teach you, beyond anything else we or anyone could ever tell you, live. Live your life.

Find the chest. Use what we have placed inside it. If we have reached this point, then you have a destiny in front of you. Don't be afraid of it. Don't ignore it. Fight, train, learn, grow, and when all is said and done I expect you to live.

With all the love I possess,

Mum

"That little… idiot," Amelia snarled, setting the letter carefully on the table before she tore or crumpled it in her anger. "That blind little fool. Ooohh… when I get my hands on him he's going to be grounded for the rest of his natural life I swear to Merlin himself!"

"Auntie, do you think he went baaAAAHHH!"

Whatever Susan had been about to say trailed off into a scream of pain as she, Daphne, and Hermione suddenly clutched at their heads, eyes screwed tight in agony.

"Son of a-"

"Daphne!" Hermione ground out, her teeth gritted in pain.

"This is not the time to jump on me for my language, Hermione," the blond snapped back, irritably. "Holy crap that hurt."

Amelia eyed the three of the them in concern. "What happened?" she asked once they were able to sit up without wincing.

"Harry… he pushed the link open." Hermione sounded somewhat dazed, her eyes far away as if looking at something that only she could see. Or maybe, Amelia corrected herself with a glance at Daphne and Susan, something only the three of them could see. "It's wider than it's ever been." Hermione glanced back and forth to the girls on either side of her. "You saw it too, right?"

Susan nodded, still holding her head gingerly. "Images. I didn't know the bond could do that."

"I don't think he did it on purpose." Daphne glanced at the look the others were giving her. "Well, yeah, he pushed the link open so far on purpose, but I don't think the images were intentional… that's not important right now." She sat up, still wincing in pain and her cold blue eyes locked onto Amelia's. "Harry is seriously in trouble."

"There's… people with him…" Susan muttered, frowning as she tried to piece together the images.

"Damn, we're seeing through his eyes, he doesn't have his glasses. God he really is blind without those things," Hermione muttered the last almost absently.

"So you can't tell where he is?" Amelia questioned. She grabbed her wand and quietly summoned her Auror badge.

The girls collectively shook their heads. "No," Susan spoke up.

"Without his glasses… it's too blurry to make out the details. Damn we've got to get his eyes checked."

"It seems like there's three people there," Hermione added, ignoring Daphne for the moment. "There's three blurry shapes at least. From the angle… I think Harry's lying on the floor."

That was more than enough for Amelia. Based on the letter they had a possible location and based on the girls information he was being attacked. She tapped her badge with her wand. "This is Director Bones," she said. "Auror Shacklebolt, meet me immediately at Number 4 Privet Drive in Surrey. Bring that new Auror Cadet with you."

She stood and glared at the girls when they made to stand as well. "You're staying here," she snapped. At the looks they gave her she took a deep breath and forced herself to speak as calmly as she could. "This is an official Auror investigation," she told them. "I can't have three school girls come along for the ride. I know you're worried about him and I'll be sure to let you know what's happening as quickly as I can but I cannot let you come with me. None of you can even use magic out of school right now so just… stick together and wait. I'll be back as soon as I can."

She hesitated for the slightest moment before turning and hurrying from the kitchen. A few moments later a loud crack echoed down the fall as she vanished from the manor.

They sat there for several minutes longer before Susan shook herself and pushed to her feet, the chair sliding back from the table as she stood. Grabbing Hermione under her left arm, she took Daphne by her right and pulled them both, unresisting, to their feet and steered them toward the parlor where the largest sofa in the house was located. She pushed the two girls down onto the sofa and took her seat back on Hermione's right side. Sitting close together, their arms coming up to tangle around each other they sought what comfort they could as they waited.

It was another quiet minute before Hermione spoke up. "Remind me to seriously kick his arse when your aunt drags him back here," she muttered in a quiet voice, causing Susan and Daphne to laugh just a little.

"Language, Hermione," Susan teased her and they laughed harder for a moment before settling in to wait. One thing they knew for sure, they were going to pound into Harry's head that if he ever left them behind again, there would be hell to pay.

#####

Harry groaned and rolled to the side when he felt the bite against his skin. He knew that sensation all too well. Lunatic bitch, he mentally groaned. Even though he couldn't see her very well, he knew that Marge had pulled out a collapsible antenna, the kind that one could find on some radios or TV's, and was swinging it at him wildly. It bit into his side twice more before he was able to roll far enough to get out of range, idly noting that he managed to leave most of his button down shirt behind after it had been torn when Marge hauled him from the cupboard.

"Get back here, you little mongrel," Marge snarled, lumbering her way down the hall toward him. Somewhere, Harry could hear a dog barking and he groaned aloud that time as he realized Ripper was present and accounted for.

Should've known she wouldn't leave that little monster somewhere, he thought. The antenna whistled past his ear and he flinched away, scrambling to his feet and half stumbling down the hall, his body protesting all the way. A weight slammed into his side, carrying him to the wooden floor and the breath whooshed out of his lungs as something heavy landed on his chest.

"You got my dad in trouble, you stupid freak!"

"Your dad is a piece of shite, Dudley," Harry snarled back doing his best to fend off the ham sized fists that rained down on his chest and face. Harry wrapped his arms around his head, doing his best to protect his face as the blows continued to come fast a furious and a pain his foot told him that Ripper had joined in and was biting his trainer.

Please, he begged inside his mind, pushing everything he could toward the bond. I promise I won't run off anymore. I won't be stupid like this again, just please, don't abandon me now.

"Stupefy!"

"Incarcerous!"

"Petrificus totalus!"

Three voices bellowed, nearly in unison and Harry had never felt such relief in his life, a moment later someone shouted another spell and there was a high pitched whimper as Ripper was suddenly yanked away from him, taking Harry's trainer with him as Dudley collapsed bonelessly to the side and two other loud thuds rang through the house.

"Auror Cadet Tonks, over here!" Amelia shouted and he could have burst into tears in relief as her blurred form came into view above him, her red hair like a burning halo around her head in his vision.

Another shape came into view topped with shocking bubble gum pink hair and both forms kneeled down on either side of him.

"… sorry. I'm sorry. I won't do it again, I swear. Please, I'm so sorry…" Harry finally realized that he could hear a voice muttering a near constant stream of promises and apologies and clamped his teeth shut when he recognized his own voice.

"It's all right, Harry. Please, just calm down," Amelia told him, one hand brushing back the fringe of hair across his forehead in a gentle gesture completely at odds with her firm tone. "The girls and I aren't happy with you, but we'll work it out, okay?"

He hesitated but nodded slowly.

"Blimey. You're Harry Potter!"

Harry turned his head, taking in the form on his right, dressed in solid white with that bright pink crown on top that suddenly shifted to a neon blue before switching back to pink again.

"Auror Cadet, there won't be a single word of this spoken to anybody, understood?"

"Director… all these scars… it's Harry bleedin' Potter. What the hell happened?"

Harry flinched, remembering that he was only barely still wearing the button down shirt and the wife beater he had underneath it did absolutely nothing to hide many of his scars. He shifted, pressing his left forearm against his stomach in an attempt to hide it.

"I know exactly who it is, Auror Cadet," Amelia snapped sharply. "And I know that if you have any aspirations of graduating with your class you aren't going to say a single word about this to anyone are you?"

"No Ma'am, absolutely not," the other shape blurted out straightening up quickly to a strange form of attention while still kneeling on the ground next to Harry. "I'm sorry Director I was just… shocked."

"Understandable, Cadet. Right now I need your help. I need you to try to make Harry as comfortable as possible, for now. We're going to be here for a little while and I'd like to do what we can to limit his pain."

"Director, I was the top in my class in Battlefield Medicine last week, shouldn't I try to alleviate some of these injuries?"

"I'd prefer it, honestly. But we're chucking these… people," Amelia practically snarled the last word, "to the muggle authorities. They won't really be able to do a lot unless he's got injuries for them to photograph so we'll have to wait a bit to heal him up."

Amelia leaned down and spoke quietly to Harry. "I'm sorry Harry," she muttered. "I really wish we could just take care of these injuries but we need to wait for a little while."

He nodded, exhausted. "I understand," he muttered.

She leaned down further until her eyes were in better focus and Harry stared into the deep blue, clearly able to see the concern she held in her gaze. "I'll be right back. Shacklebolt and I are going to round these three up, the muggle Police should already be on their way, okay?"

He nodded and mumbled his agreement and a moment later she pulled back and stood, vanishing quickly from his view as she moved over to deal with the Durselys.

Beside him, the lady with the pink hair, Tonks, was already waving her wand around him and muttering under her breath. Within moments he'd been levitated to the nearby sofa and divested of the tattered remains of his button down shirt. Harry could practically feel her eyes on him, painfully aware of the scars that were exposed due to his wife beater.

"Please, don't stare," he muttered and the pink topped blob that he could see standing nearby jumped and she stumbled, nearly falling over in her surprise.

"Er… sorry about that, Mister Potter," she stammered out. "I didn't mean to it's just…"

He sighed when she trailed off, uncertainly, and closed his eyes. "I know," he said. "And it's just Harry." He winced as a stabbing pain shot through his ribs where Marge had kicked him. He didn't think any of his ribs were cracked or broken, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

"Harry?"

He opened his eyes again. Another blob had joined the Auror Cadet, this one topped with a shocking red color and he matched the voice to the blur he was able to make out. "Amelia? What is it?"

"I'm sorry to say that we invaded your privacy a little bit, and we'll talk about that later, but for right now, I read that letter that Gringotts forwarded to you from your vault. It said for you to ask your aunt about the chest. I asked, but she doesn't seem to know what I'm talking about. Considering the compulsion, and the wording of the letter, I think it might be keyed to you. You feel up to asking her if I bring her over here before the Police get here?"

His expression hardened, his eyes more brilliant than ever without his glasses in the way. "Absolutely," he bit out and Amelia smiled, unseen by the young wizard.

"All right. Give me a moment and I'll drag her over here…"

#####

Hermione's head snapped up, something disturbing her less than restful doze, and she looked around, bleary eyed and a little confused. A glance at the window told her that it had to be at least early evening. She lying in the middle of Susan's bed, Susan and Daphne on either side of her, their arms still wrapped tightly around each other.

She wasn't sure when they'd fallen asleep, honestly wasn't even sure when they'd moved to the bed from the sofa downstairs, but it had been several hours after Amelia had left, at least, as far as she could remember. Now, if she could just figure out what had disturbed her sleep…

She sat up sharply a moment later when a chime sounded throughout the house, disturbing the other two girls in the bed and they came awake, sitting up and rubbing their eyes.

"Her-Hermione?" Susan stammered around a jaw cracking yawn. "What is it?"

The chime sounded again and all three girls were instantly awake. There was a moment where they were utterly still, followed quickly by an explosion of motion as they scrambled out of the bed and bolted for the door. Their feet carried them quickly into the hall and down the stairs toward the sitting room where they arrive just in time to see a woman wearing the solid white robes of an Auror Cadet with bright pink spiked up hair helping Harry into the room and leading him over to sit on the small love seat.

The girls rushed into the room, ignoring the woman for the moment as they approached Harry. He'd just settled into the seat, a small wooden chest cradled protectively under one arm when they lit into him.

"What in the blazes where you thinking?"

"I'd have thought you'd have gotten this out of your system by now," Susan declared just behind Hermione while Daphne chose to remain silent and simply glared at their bonded.

He looked at them, eyes squinted almost closed as he moved his head back and forth from one to the other for a moment before he suddenly snorted out a strangled sounding laugh.

"This is not funny, Potter!" Daphne snapped, suddenly unwilling to maintain her silence in the face of Harry actually laughing at their concern. She could feel the other girls bristling angrily as well when he held up both hands, the chest set on the seat next to him.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry, you're right, it isn't funny. But that's not why I was laughing."

"Then why, Harry?" Hermione demanded.

"Well, I just suddenly thought that it's a really good thing all three of you have such different hair colors. Even without my glasses, at least I can tell by the color which blob is which."

Much of their immediate anger bled away into surprise as they realized that he was, in fact, not wearing his glasses. They quickly shoved aside the recurring thought of how much… brighter his already brilliantly colored eyes looked without his glasses to distract from them, and focused back on the initial reason for their ire. It was actually a rather simple task, considering the times they'd noted it before was because he was in the hospital wing.

"What happened to your glasses?"

"Completely destroyed," the pink haired woman informed them, speaking up for the first time since they'd entered the room. "We found the remains but they were so mangled not even a reparo could do anything with them. He's going to be blind as a bat until he can get a new pair."

"I'm sorry, you are?" Susan asked, her tone polite, but slightly strained.

"Auror Cadet Tonks. Your Aunt had me Aparrate in with Harry here after we rescued him from his crazy aunts house. She and Auror Shacklebolt are somewhere else in the house going over the report they're going to submit."

"Does there really have to be a report?" Harry half whined, sinking back on the seat.

"Yes, there does. Since the Director called in an active, on duty Auror, there's no choice, it's seen as official Auror business and reports have to be filed for all Auror actions."

He sighed and sank further into his seat, sulking slightly, but momentarily pleased that he could slump in the love seat as he was. Tonks really was quite good at battlefield medical spells. He didn't even get a twinge of pain from his ribs despite his odd contortions.

"Thank you, very much, Cadet," Susan said. "We really appreciate you helping to keep this idiot in one piece."

"Speaking of," Tonks started, a truly evil grin spreading on her lips and Harry winced at the tone in her voice. "Director Bones asked me to stand watch here to protect Harry, if necessary."

The girls blinked again and stared at her. "Why would you need to protect him here?" Hermione asked.

"Because the Director wanted me to detail his injuries and what happened overnight to you young ladies. She decided it should be part of his punishment for running off the way he did and I'm to make sure that you don't do anything… untoward after hearing what he got himself into."

The girls quickly found seats and Susan motioned for Tonks to make herself comfortable. "Please, Cadet Tonks. Tell us all about it."

Ten minutes later, Amelia walked into the room with Kingsley behind her to find the girls glaring at Harry who was trying to make himself as small as possible on the love seat while Tonks was snorting and laughing at the pained expression on the boys face.

"I take it Cadet Tonks has informed you what happened?" Amelia asked, a smirk tugging at her lips.

"Oh, yes," Hermione spoke up in a dangerous tone, her eyes narrowed at Harry along with the girls on either side of her. "She gave us the full story."

"I had to go see about the chest," Harry tried to protest, clutching the small chest next to him with one hand. "My mum left it for me…"

"We understand that, Harry," Daphne said, deciding it was her turn to try to get through to him. "But you have got to, absolutely got to get past this idea that you have to do everything alone. You tried to leave us behind at first, the night we went after the stone. During that you eventually did find a way to get away from us. This time you left all of us behind, including the head of the DMLE! Do you honestly think that it wouldn't have been better for you to have Amelia with you when you went to find out about it?"

Harry sullenly shook his head, his eyes squinted in the blond blobs direction. His narrowed eyes made him look angry, but they were able to tell through their bond that it was just his lack of glasses.

"Cadet Tonks?" Amelia asked, interrupting the discussion. "Thank you, for your assistance today, I really do appreciate it and I'll be sure to let your instructors know how well you performed. I do have something else I'd like to talk to you about, however. Let's talk while I escort you to the Floo."

"It was nice meeting you, Mister Potter," Tonks said, waving as she stood and followed the Director from the room.

Once they were gone, the four children fell silent. Hermione, Susan, and Daphne were trying to get a handle on their feelings regarding the situation. They were really getting tired of Harry taking off on his own. Harry, in turn, was feeling just slightly put out by everyone's reactions, but also was beginning to understand that he really did need to keep more aware that he didn't have to do everything himself.

'Brek!'

The four of them glanced up as Hedwig flew into the room, circled once near the ceiling, then came in to land on Harry's shoulder. She nipped at his ear, hard, and he jumped and turned his head to her. Deep golden eyes peered into emerald green from a space of barely an inch away.

Hedwig barked at him several more times, sounding incredibly irate for an owl and Harry held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"I know!" he burst out. "I'm sorry, I just reacted. I'm used to dealing with things on my own."

'Brek!' she barked and suddenly jerked forward, pecking his forehead right between his eyes.

"OW! Dammit, Hedwig."

She pecked him again.

"I said I'm sorry!"

She turned and spread her wings, cuffing him on the side of the head before turning back and glaring into his eyes again.

'Brek-cek brek'

He didn't say anything, just stared with wide, almost fearful eyes as she continued to glare at him. A moment later her head started to move forward, as if to peck him again, and he leaned away as best he could, quickly blurting out, "Okay, I won't do it again!"

She stopped, studying him intently for several long moments before she straightened up and turned so that she was perched more naturally on his shoulder and rubbed her head against his cheek before she started preening his hair with her beak.

Harry sat there and fumed, silently, as the girls and Amelia, who had walked back into the room right about the time that Hedwig had pecked him for the second time, all suddenly broke down into hysterical fits of laughter.

Harry grumbled under his breath but dutifully responded when Hedwig started to walk her way down his arm, poking at various parts of his body with her beak as she went.

"Shoulder was bruised," he told her when she tapped it with her beak. "Ribs were bruised as well, but none of them cracked or broken," he added as she moved down his arm, barking quietly at him all the while. She hesitated and jabbed his ribs a second time, a little harder, causing him to jump. "Okay, I had some cuts on that side too, but they're all healed, even the bruising is almost gone it wasn't deep so no need for a bruise salve."

She glared at him again for a moment before she seemed satisfied and moved back up to his shoulder. She puffed up her feathers and settled herself comfortably, preening his hair again with an extremely self satisfied air about her.

"Thank you, Hedwig," Amelia said, still chuckling quietly as she moved over to a chair. "I'm not sure any of us could have gotten through to him quite so effectively." The girls laughed again and Harry grumbled under his breath, rubbing gingerly at his forehead where Hedwig had pecked him.

"Oh, quit grumbling. You know you earned that."

Harry glared at Amelia, as best he could, but said nothing to dispute her claim.

The five of them settled into silence for a moment while Hedwig settled in more comfortably on Harry's shoulder. Eventually, Amelia spoke up. "All right," she said. "We've had a bit of a rough day, and a certain individual was largely responsible for it."

The girls glared at Harry who shrank in on himself even though he couldn't make out their expressions. The feelings coming through their bond was more than enough to tell him what to expect from them.

"All that aside though, I think there's a few things we need to discuss."

"Like what, Amelia?" Hermione asked. She sat up straighter in her seat, her fingers twitching and Daphne chuckled quietly, setting her hand over the other girls.

"You're not going to need to take notes, Hermione," she said, and Susan laughed quietly when Hermione pouted just slightly.

"No, no notes required. But we've got a couple things to discuss and then I think it's time to eat something and head to bed. Agreed?"

There were no arguments from the children present so she gathered her thoughts and dove right in. "First of all. That chest, Harry. I know you want to open it, but I think you may have to wait until after we get your glasses replaced. I cantake you into Diagon Alley tomorrow, there's a magical Optometrist that has an office off one of the side alley's that we could go to."

"I'll have to go to Gringott's first," Harry said, considering the situation. "I don't know how much wizarding funds I have on hand."

Amelia shook her head at that. "No, I'll be paying for your glasses," she informed him and then kept speaking over him when he tried to protest. "Harry, at present I am still your guardian. Your physical needs and care are my responsibility in that role. So I will be paying for your glasses and you do not owe me in any way for doing so."

She eyed him for a moment before continuing, her tone gentler. "That's what parents and guardians are supposed to do, Harry. I know that hasn't been your experience, but if I do nothing else I intend to teach you what such a relationship should be like. Right now, you are my responsibility. So I will be taking responsibility for your immediate needs. I know you can more than afford it, but that isn't the point. Do you understand me?"

Harry didn't answer at first. He thought, instead. He took a moment, and a deep breath, and considered what Amelia had said until he finally nodded his assent. "Okay," he said. "Thank you."

The girls shared a smile between them, pleased to see more of the walls around Harry Potter coming down.

"That all being said, you did still do something that you shouldn't have done. So there has to be some kind of punishment in regards to that." Amelia winced when Harry immediately stiffened up at those words. "And no, that will be absolutely nothing like what you're used to, Harry. Remember your first day here. We had an entire conversation about acceptable and unacceptable behavior and actions. You need to start understanding that you can't do everything yourself. And this, in particular, sneaking out of the house, actively disabling the charm on the Floo that tell's the household that it's being used? Harry you left the house vulnerable. Not severely, of course, the wards are still up. But by shutting off what is a security measure on the Floo… that requires a response. And I've talked it over with Healer Gant and I think we've come up with a workable solution.

"You'll remember, that Gant gave you a list of things he wanted you to work on?"

Harry nodded.

"Spending time with the girls, working on your Occlumency, things like that?"

"Yes, he did. And I've been keeping up with most of those," Harry pointed out, reaching up idly to stroke Hedwig's feathers where she still stood on his shoulder.

"Most, but not all. One of those listed items was a recommendation for a physical exercise regimen. Cadet Tonks graduated last year from Hogwarts. She's only a little over a month into the cadet training but she's shown considerable promise. Glowing recommendations from all her trainers. I've spoken with her, and as part of her training for field work, to a degree, she'll be coming around the house until school starts up again every morning to put you through your exercises. That will be your punishment for this little debacle and will serve to get you working on that routine that the healer recommended for you."

She let her gaze sweep over all four kids. "There's one other thing that's been on my mind since this morning. Just before we looked at your mother's letter, which I apologize for, again, the girls said that you pushed the link to them open further than it's ever been."

Harry nodded. "I didn't know what else to do," he muttered. "I'm sorry I just… I went over there, confident that I could handle it. I mean, I can use magic out of school since I'm Lord Potter. I didn't count on being blindsided."

"Which is something we'll address. But the question that I have is, what does this mean for you all now?"

The four of them blinked, surprised by the question before falling into a thoughtful silence.

"You've shared emotions so far with a limited connection, so it sounds like. Is the link still open wider than it was before? And with that wider link, what does it mean? Is it going to have any side effects that you need to be aware of?" Amelia sighed and leaned back in her seat. "I think that every day, you should spend some time discussing this and try to find out if anything else is going to come of this new aspect to your bond. You don't want to be caught on the back foot by any surprises down the road."

"The link feels the same," Susan spoke up, her eyes closed as she searched for the connection in her mind. "I can see it. The link coming from Harry really is much wider. But it doesn't really seem to be doing anything different, at the moment at least."

"That's what you'll need to figure out." Amelia clapped her hands and pushed herself to her feet. "Well, that was all I really wanted to say. Your Hogwarts letters all arrived today, by the way. So, girls, you'll be coming with to the Alley tomorrow morning. We'll get Harry his glasses then we can get all your school supplies covered and squared away."

"I'll head home then and tell my parents about it," Hermione said as she also stood. "I think they wanted to join us if they could and they'll need to make sure their practice is covered."

She quickly crossed the room and pulled Harry up off his seat and into a hug as Hedwig launched herself into the air and settled on the back of a chair instead.

"You scared us," she whispered into his ear. "Stop doing that."

Harry carefully hugged her back, still somewhat awkward with the displays of affection, but slowly improving. "I didn't mean to," he murmured, "and I can't promise nothing of the kind'll ever happen again. But I promise to try harder and to keep in mind I can count on all of you too." It'd been a painful lesson, but one Harry fully intended to take to heart.

"See that you do," she admonished him, drawing back to look into his eyes. They were so close together he could clearly make out the cinnamon brown of her eyes and the worry shining clearly through her gaze and simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

She gave him another quick hug before she made her way around the room, hugging Daphne, Susan, and Amelia in turn. Eventually she reached Hedwig and gently stroked the owls head.

"Thank you for smacking him around some," she said. "He really needed it."

Susan and Daphne snorted a laugh and waved their goodbyes as Hermione left the room. A minute later the chime for the Floo rang throughout the house and Harry winced as he thought about what Amelia had said. Shutting off that chime really hadn't been his smartest move. But he'd seen no other way around it. And he really needed to change his way of thinking.

The remaining people in the house made their way into the kitchen for a light meal that Binky happily provided and eventually Harry found himself being led to his room. Susan and Daphne both hugged him and retreated into Susan's room, leaving him alone with Amelia in the hall outside his door.

"Can you manage from here?" she asked and he nodded.

"Yeah, my eyesights bad but I can at least get into bed on my own." He hesitated for a moment before drawing up his nerve and forging ahead. "I'm sorry," he said. "I really didn't mean for any of this to happen it's just…"

Amelia placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I get being self reliant, Harry. I really do. But there's a difference between self reliant and fool hardy. You've got to learn when to ask for help. We're willing to help. I might not have been able to go yesterday, or today with work, who knows. But if you'd asked I'd have done my best to arrange things and I'd have given you a day and time when I'd be available to go with you."

"I didn't want to put you out-"

"No," she cut him off with a stern glare she wished he could actually see. "You need to stop that line of thinking, right now, young man. I took you in as your guardian willingly. I like you, Harry. You're a good kid. You've got a strong moral code that I can completely agree with and you're determined to protect the people you care about. You're a warrior, to me, plain and simple. But I've known a lot of warriors over the years. And to the man they're damaged. They tried to do too much themselves and wouldn't rely on other people to help them. One of them, a man I respect a great deal, is missing an eye and a leg and his face is so scarred he actually scares young children just by his appearance. He's paranoid and doesn't trust anyone and I do not want to see you walking that same road. I can see it so easily happening with you, Harry so… please… just try to remember that there are people here willing to help.

"I feel like I'm repeating myself a lot with you on these issues, but don't ever think you're an imposition of inconvenience. No, I won't always have time to address any little thing. But if something is important, like this was, bring it to me, we'll work something out, understood?"

He sighed and nodded. "I do. I get it and I promise, I'll try harder."

Amelia smiled and pulled him into a hug herself. "That's all we can ask, Harry. Just do your best and that'll always be enough." She pulled back and held him at arms length, her hands on his shoulders. "All right, it's getting late so get to bed. We'll have an early start in the morning. Call for Binky when you wake up, okay? He'll set out some clothes for you so you don't have to go fumbling blind through your closet, okay?"

"Okay," he said and nodded, flashing her a small grin before he stepped into his room and closed the door behind him. He leaned against it for a moment, heaving out a small sigh and closed his eyes. His bruises and cuts were healed, but his body still ached. Not nearly as bad as it had, of course, but even magic didn't remove all the pains instantly. It would take a good day or so until he felt back to one hundred percent, but he figured it was a small price to pay for what he'd potentially gained.

He moved toward his bed, pulling off the new button down shirt that Amelia had conjured for him before leaving the Dursleys and dropped it on the floor. Falling face first into his bed be fought his way under the covers and sank into his pillow, asleep within moments.

#####

"Director, reports indicate subject White King has been rescued with minimal damage."

Director Croaker looked up from his continued observation of the hourglass on his desk to regard Sable carefully.

"Did any of our people have to intervene?"

"No, Director. Subject Red Queen apparently discovered his location on her own and came to rescue with a senior Auror and an Auror Cadet with her. Subject White King's objective for approaching the house was also apparently achieved at that time."

"Very good, anything else I need to be made aware of."

Sable hesitated for a moment, something that immediately grabbed the Director's attention and the hourglass was subsequently forgotten as he focused entirely on his old friend.

"What is it, Sable?" he asked.

"The observation team at the room has reported a change on the Tree."

Croaker stood and stepped around his desk, motioning for Sable to follow as he threw open the door and strode out into the hall.

"What kind of change?" he asked as he walked, Sable trailing along behind him.

"The lines have changed just slightly. It isn't a large shift, but noticeable, and none of us have any clue what it indicates at this time."

Croaker nodded and kept walking until they reached the door. With a gesture from Sable the Unspeakables guarding the door opened it quickly and stepped aside as the Director swept past without even breaking stride. He stepped into the room and turned immediately toward the wall housing the Family Tree and carefully studied the lines connecting the four most fascinating individuals in all of Wizarding Britain, as far as the Department of mysteries was concerned.

At first glance, Croaker wasn't sure what Sable was talking about. The Name Harry James Potter was still connected to three witches with a gleaming gold line etched into the dark grey stone of the wall. Those witches were connected to each other, also with a bright gold line.

It wasn't until he studied the lines themselves more closely that he noticed the difference. The lines connecting the young Lord Potter's name to the three girls was thicker than the others. Thicker than it had been before too by nearly half again the previous width.

"Ideas?"

"There's some debate. Some feel it has to do with the individuals, some think it might be a deepening of the bond. In any case something about the bond itself has changed, slightly. At this point there's no way to tell what effect, if any, it will have on the subjects. There's also nothing to indicate if this change is beneficial, benign, or malignant in nature."

"A bond like this can't be malignant, by its very nature there's no way the bond itself could be harmful to them."

"Unless they do something stupid and mess with the bond somehow."

"Do we know if anything like this has ever happened with any of the previously recorded bonds?" Croaker asked, studying the various lines.

Sable shook their head beneath their hood. "Not that we are aware of. We still haven't found the record of the last bond. We know it's there, but for some reason no one has been able to locate it."

Croaker cursed. "This is why I've been saying we need to have this wall adjusted so we can view back along the tree to those people no longer living."

"Indeed, Director. At present, all we have available is those reports and records written by past Unspeakables. The Archives are extensive, as you know, and it could take some time to sift through them to find what we're looking for."

Croaker cursed under his breath and glared at the wall, as if he could subdue it through the heat of his gaze alone into giving up its secrets.

"Keep observation on all subjects and continue monitoring this room. I want to know the instant anything changes in any way. We're not going to miss any opportunity to study this. The workings of the soul are still so poorly understood and I'm not going to be remembered as the Director that squandered such a brilliant opportunity."

"Understood, Director."

The two figures left the room and the door swung closed behind them moments later. Behind them, in the now empty room beneath the Ministry of Magic the gleaming golden lines slashed so brightly across the dark wall, pulsed slowly as a steady glow emanated from them.